Rocking head for portable lighting devices such as lighters operating on pressurized liquefied gas

ABSTRACT

The lighting device is provided with a lighter head constituted by a single rigid lever, capable of freely rocking on either side of a fulcrum connecting it to the body of said device, said lever comprising, on one side of the fulcrum, an arm and a knurled roller continuously subjected to the action of a spring so as to raise this side of the said lever, and on the other side of the fulcrum a closing cap which, when resting upon an escape opening for the expanded gas, closes said opening.

United States Patent Claude Roland Julius Rosenthal [50] Field of Paris, France App]. No. 875,988

Filed [72] Inventor [22] No 12, 9 References Cited Patented Aug. 24, 1971 FOREIGN PATENTS 1,155,280 10/1963 Germany......................

Assignee Pierre Keller 1,003,071 9/1965 Great Britain................

Primary Examiner-Edward G. Favors Attorney-Steinberg and Blake Tanger, Morocco Nov. 19, 1968 France ABSTRACT: The lighting device is provided with a lighter head constituted by a single rigid lever, capable of freely rocking on either side ofa fulcrum connecting it to the body of said device, said lever comprising, on one side of the fulcrum, an arm and a knurled roller continuously subjected to the action of a spring so as to raise this side of the said lever, and on 431/254, the other side of the fulcrum a closing cap which, when resting 431/277 upon an escape opening for the expanded gas, closes said F23q 2/16 opening.

[32] Priority [54] ROCKING HEAD FOR PORTABLE LIGHTING DEVICES SUCH AS LIGHTERS OPERATING ON PRESSURIZED LIQUEFIED GAS 5 Claims, 8 Drawing Figs.

PATENTEU AUB24I97I 3,601 517 SHEET 3 OF 4 ATENTEB Auc24|9n 60 1. 517

' sum u or 4 ROCKING I-IEAD.FOR PORTABLE LIGHTING DEVICES SUCH AS LIGHTERS OPERATING N PRESSURIZED LIQUEFIED GAS The present invention relates to portable lighting devices such as lighters operating on pressurized liquefied gas, which are available on the market in a great variety of models.

In these lighters containing sealingly a certain volume of pressurized liquefied gas, the combination of the various known mechanisms enables to obtain, by a double manual action (so-called automatic lighters) or by successive manual actions, the freeing ofthe previously expanded gas, the firing thereof, the keeping up of its combustion during the required period of time, and then the extinguishment of the flame; means being besides provided to regulate the intensity of the flame.

The purpose of the invention is to provide a gas-lighter head, the manual actuation of which causes automatically (by a simple motion of the finger) the freeing of the previously expanded gas, the firing thereof, the keeping up of its combustion during use and then the stopping of the gas.

Another purpose of the invention is to provide a closing mechanism of very low cost and particularly to enable the constituent elements thereof to be assembled at very low cost.

The invention consists mainly in providing a lighter head constituted by a single rigid, nondeformable lever made preferably from pressure-cast metal, capable of freely rocking on either side of a fulcrum connecting it to the body of the said lighter, the said rocking lever comprising, on one side of the fulcrum, an arm and a knurled roller rotating freely about a fixed pin rigid with this side of the lever, the said knurled roller being continuously subjected to the resilient action of a spring (contained in the body of the said lighter) which presses thereon a pyrophoric stone so as to raise this side of the said lever and therefore lower the opposite side, and on the other side of the fulcrum a closing cap which, when resting upon the escape opening for the expanded gas escaping from the lighter, closes the said opening, the whole assembly thus constituting a mechanism enabling, by pressing the knurled roller with the finger, to rock the side of the lever carrying it, in the direction of the said pressure, thus freeing the gas, and then, when (without releasing the said pressure) the said knurled roller is made to turn on itself by the action of the finger, to

produce a shower of hot sparks directed through the flow of freed expanded gas, thus firing the latter, and then, when at the end of its travel the said finger rests upon the said arm, to keep up the freeing of the gas and, finally, when the action of the said finger upon the said arm is released, to obtain the stoppingof the gas owing to the automatic rocking of the lever in the opposite direction.

The invention is directed more particularly to certain modes of use as well as to certain forms of embodiment of the aforesaid arrangement and it is directed still more particularly to the novel industrial products constituted by the portable lighting devices such as the lighters operating on pressurized liquefied gas and involving the use of the same arrangements, as well as the special elements peculiar to their makeup, in particular the design of the single lever forming the head and its motion caused by the motion of the users finger as well as the successive effects of this motion of the finger on the described mechanism.

The invention will be better understood from the following description and from the appended drawings, given solely by way of example and wherein:

FIG. I is a longitudinal sectional view of a lighting head according to the invention, mounted on a lighter shown partially, the said lighting head being in position of rest;

FIG. 2 is a sectional view similar to FIG. 1, showing the head in the position where the gas is freed and the fiame is burning;

FIG. 3 is a partial view, to a larger scale of the said head in the position shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a partial view, to a larger scale, of the said head in the position shown in FIG. 2;

FIG. 5 is a view from below of the lever forming part of the lighting head according to the invention;

FIG. 6 is a longitudinal sectional view of the said lever;

FIG. 7 is a plan view of the said lever;

FIG. 8 is a perspective view of a lighter provided with a lighting head according to the invention.

According to the form of embodiment shown in the drawings, the lighting head according to the invention, used in a lighter, is constituted essentially by a lever 1 made preferably from pressure-cast metal, for instance the alloy named ZAMAK. The lever l is provided, in order to be allowed to rock, with two bores made on its two longitudinal faces la and lbthe said bores allowing to connect the lever 1 to the body 3 of the lighter by placing a pin 2 passing therethrough and also through an ear or lug 3a protruding above the lighter body. By these means, the lever l is adapted to rock freely on either side of the said pin 2, depending on the forces to which it is subjected.

The said lever 1 is provided, on one side of the rock pin 2, with a cap 4, 4 which receives the knurled roller 5 capable of rotating freely about the axis 6 rigid with the said lever. This same side of the lever l terminates in an arm 7.

On the other hand, the said lever l is provided, on the other side of the rock pin 2, with a closing cap 8 which is cast together with the other element forming the lever 1.

The body of the cap 8 covers the opening 9 wherefrom the previously expanded gas escapes owing to a device which is not described herein as it is not within the scope of the invention.

The upper portion of the body 3 of the lighter comprises a neck 10 provided so as to enable the positioning of a resilient O-ring seal 11 ensuring a perfect sealing between the neck 10 and the bore 12 of the cap 8. It should be noted that the surface 13 forming the inner transverse surface of the cap is provided with several slots such as 14 enabling the gas to pass around the flat resilient seal 15, behind the latter, and then to flow through the outlet 16. It is readily understood that when the cap 8 applies on the neck 10 the flat resilient seal 15, the opening 9 through which the gasescapes, is sealingly closed, whereas when the cap 8 is raised, the flat seal 15 is freed and allows the gas to flow out from the conduit 9. This gas is then so directed that it cannot go anywhere else than towards the conduit 16 which directs the flow of gas to the atmosphere.

As already described, the knurled roller 5 is so arranged with respect to the rock pin 2 that it is continuously subjected to the pressure of the spring 17 contained in the body of the lighter 3 and which presses on the knurled roller 5 the pyrophoric stone 18, thus raising the side of the lever l on which is fixed the knurled roller 5 and, consequently, lowering the opposite side provided with the closing cap which is therefore continuously pressed on the neck 10 when the lever 1 is at rest.

The operation of such a mechanism is as follows.

When one presses the knurled roller 5 with the finger in the direction of the arrow F,, the lever 1 rocks in the direction shown by the arrow F and this results in the freeing of the gas which then escapes through the conduit 16 towards the atmosphere. The displacement of the lever 1 may be limited for instance by providing a stop such as 19 on the upper face of the body 3 of the lighter. In this manner, the lower face 70 of the arm 7, at the end of its travel, bears upon the stop 19. The particular arrangement of the elements constituting the body of the cap 8 enables to free the gas with a very short travel of the lever 1. Considering the angle A to denote the position of the knurled roller 5 at rest and the angle B to denote the position of the knurled roller when the gas is being freed, B A is inferior to 5. This represents a very short rocking travel of the lever l, but this reduced travel is sufficient to free the gas.

When the gas is freed, the pressure on the knurled roller 5 is maintained and the latter is made to turn on itself by an appropriate motion of the finger, and this causes the knurled roller to rub against the pyrophoric stone 18 and results in a shower of hot sparks directed in such a manner that it cuts the flow of gas escaping from the opening 16, thus firing the gas.

At the end of its travel, the finger rests upon the arm 7 and is maintained there to enable the user to use the lighted lighter.

It is obvious that when the action upon the arm 7 is ceased completely, the lever 1 rocks towards its position of rest under the permanent action of the spring 17 and the outlet of the gas is closed sealingly by the cap 18 which covers the neck and applies the seal on the outlet 9.

There is thus obtained a gas-lighter head according to the invention, the essential characteristic of which consists in that it is a rocking head, the travel of which is very short and which enables to free the gas before firing it, and then to fire it, to keep up the combustion of the flame during the required period of time and then to extinguish the flame by bringing the mechanism to its position of rest.

Of course, the invention is by no means limited to the form of embodiment shown and described, which has been given by way of example only. In particular, the invention comprises all the means constituting technical equivalents to the means described as well as their combinations if the latter are carried out according to the spirit of the invention.

What I claim is:

l. A portable finger-operable lighting device operating on liquefied gas, comprising a body provided with a pyrophoric stone, with spring means and with a gas outlet opening, and a lighting head constituted by a lever, a pin being supported on said body and mounting said lever for rocking movement, said lever being provided on the one hand with an arm and a knurled roller cooperating with said pyrophoric stone and subject to the action of said spring means and the said arm and the said knurled roller being arranged on one side of said arm with respect to said pin and on the other hand with a closing member cooperating with said gas outlet opening, the said closing member being arranged on the other side of said arm with respect to said pin and being'applied on said opening by the action of the said spring means, whereby a pressure exerted by the finger on said knurled roller so as to rotate it, causes said lever to rock against the action of. said spring means and brings said lever to a rocked position at which said closing member frees said gas outlet opening, a further pressure exerted on said arm maintaining said lever in said rocked position, whereas said spring means moves said closing member back against said gas outlet opening as soon as the finger ceases to exert said pressure, said body being formed with a neck-shaped portion provided with said gas outlet opening, said closing member being constituted in its entirety by a single cap-shaped element covering said neck-shaped portion and by a resilient seal arranged between said capshaped element and said neck-shaped portion, said seal being maintained applied on said neck-shaped portion and closing said gas outlet opening when said lever is subjected to the action of said spring means, said cap-shaped element having an upper portion formed with an outlet conduit for the gas, said conduit communicating with said gas outlet opening when the lever is in said rocked position.

2. A lighting device according to claim 1, wherein said spring means applies said pyrophoric stone on said knurled roller.

3. A lighting device according to claim 1, wherein said upper portion of said cap-shaped element has an inner transverse surface formed with slots communicating with said outlet conduit so as to allow a communication, and therefore the passing of the gas, between said gas outlet opening and said conduit when said lever is in said rocked position.

4. A lighting device according to claim 1, wherein said lever, said arm and said cap-shaped element form a single piece obtained by casting or moulding.

5. A lighting device according to claim 1, wherein an O-ring seal surrounds and engages said neck-shaped portion and is surrounded and engaged by said cap-shaped element. 

1. A portable finger-operable lighting device operating on liquefied gas, comprising a body provided with a pyrophoric stone, with spring means and with a gas outlet opening, and a lighting head constituted by a lever, a pin being supported on said body and mounting said lever for rocking movement, said lever being provided on the one hand with an arm and a knurled roller cooperating with said pyrophoric stone and subject to the action of said spring means and the said arm and the said knurled roller being arranged on one side of said arm with respect to said pin and on the other hand with a closing member cooperating with said gas outlet opening, the said closing member being arranged on the other side of said arm with respect to said pin and being applied on said opening by the action of the said spring means, whereby a pressure exerted by the finger on said knurled roller so as to rotate it, causes said lever to rock against the action of said spring means and brings said lever to a rocked position at which said closing member frees said gas outlet opening, a further pressure exerted on said arm maintaining said lever in said rocked position, whereas said spring means moves said closing member back against said gas outlet opening as soon as the finger ceases to exert said pressure, said body being formed with a neck-shaped portion provided With said gas outlet opening, said closing member being constituted in its entirety by a single cap-shaped element covering said neck-shaped portion and by a resilient seal arranged between said cap-shaped element and said neck-shaped portion, said seal being maintained applied on said neck-shaped portion and closing said gas outlet opening when said lever is subjected to the action of said spring means, said cap-shaped element having an upper portion formed with an outlet conduit for the gas, said conduit communicating with said gas outlet opening when the lever is in said rocked position.
 2. A lighting device according to claim 1, wherein said spring means applies said pyrophoric stone on said knurled roller.
 3. A lighting device according to claim 1, wherein said upper portion of said cap-shaped element has an inner transverse surface formed with slots communicating with said outlet conduit so as to allow a communication, and therefore the passing of the gas, between said gas outlet opening and said conduit when said lever is in said rocked position.
 4. A lighting device according to claim 1, wherein said lever, said arm and said cap-shaped element form a single piece obtained by casting or moulding.
 5. A lighting device according to claim 1, wherein an O-ring seal surrounds and engages said neck-shaped portion and is surrounded and engaged by said cap-shaped element. 